# Kin (Irish TV series)

Kin is an Irish crime drama television series, co-created by Peter McKenna and Ciaran Donnelly, that first broadcast on 9 September 2021, on RTÉ One. The series revolves around a fictional Dublin family embroiled in gangland war and stars Aidan Gillen and Ciarán Hinds as rival gang leaders Frank Kinsella and Eamon Cunningham.
The series was first announced in November 2020, with co-creator Peter McKenna set as showrunner and Diarmuid Goggins as director of the first four episodes. Tessa Hoffe was later announced as director of episodes five to eight. In February 2022, the series premiered in the United States and Canada on AMC+, with Sundance Now premiering the series in the UK. A second series was announced on 10 February 2022, with production beginning in July.

## Background

Prior to the series' premiere, several news outlets stated the series was inspired by the Kinahan gang and the Hutch–Kinahan feud, and noted similarities to former RTE staple Love/Hate. A show "insider" stated that "This is not the Kinahans' story, but people can draw their own conclusions. Viewers will be able to make up their own mind about it."

## Cast
### Main

* Charlie Cox as Michael ‘The Magician’ Kinsella, brother of Jimmy
* Clare Dunne as Amanda Kinsella, wife of Jimmy
* Aidan Gillen as Frank Kinsella
* Emmett J. Scanlan as Jimmy Kinsella
* Maria Doyle Kennedy as Bridget 'Birdy' Goggins, sister of Frank
* Sam Keeley as Eric 'Viking' Kinsella, son of Frank
* Yasmin Seky as Nikita Murphy, partner of Eric
* Ciarán Hinds as Eamon Cunningham (series 1)
* Francis Magee as Brendan Kinsella (series 2, guest series 1), father of Michael and Jimmy, brother of Frank and Birdy
* Danielle Galligan as Molly (series 2, guest series 1)

### Supporting

* Hannah Adeogun as Anna Areoye
* Mark Mckenna Jr as Anthony Kinsella
* Keith McErlean as Con Doyle
* Ryan Lincoln as Isaac 'Kem' Kemela
* Ben Carolan as Glen Wright
* Shane Quigley Murphy as Dean Fearon
* Neill Fleming as Dotser Reid
* Thomas Kane-Byrne as Francis 'Fudge' Flynn
* Cian Fitzsimons as Jamie Kinsella
* Fiona Bell as Angela Cunningham
* Lloyd Cooney as Caolán Moore
* Stephen Jones as Noel Lawlor
* Denise McCormack as Jenny Lawlor
* Öykü Karayel as Nuray Batuk (series 2)
* Kenan Ece as Hamza (series 2)

## Episodes
### Series overview

| Series | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Series | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 8 | 8 | 12 September 2021 (2021-9-12) | 31 October 2021 (2021-10-31) |
| 2 | 8 | 8 | 19 March 2023 (2023-3-19) | 7 May 2023 (2023-5-7) |

### Series 1 (2021)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Ireland viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Diarmuid Goggins | Peter McKenna | 12 September 2021 (2021-9-12) | N/A |
| A feud between local gang leaders Frank Kinsella and Eamon Cunningham is intensified when Frank's son Eric tries to take out one of Eamon's dealers, Caolan Moore, over a petty feud. |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Diarmuid Goggins | Peter McKenna | 19 September 2021 (2021-9-19) | N/A |
| Reeling from the death in the family, the Kinsellas argue about whether or not they should retaliate, going against Frank who just struck a deal with Cunningham. |||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Diarmuid Goggins | Peter McKenna | 26 September 2021 (2021-9-26) | N/A |
| The day of the funeral arrives, and the Kinsellas decide to strike back at those who were ultimately responsible for the murder, but not everything goes to plan. |||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Diarmuid Goggins | Peter McKenna | 3 October 2021 (2021-10-3) | N/A |
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Tessa Hoffe | Peter McKenna | 10 October 2021 (2021-10-10) | N/A |
| 6 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Tessa Hoffe | Peter McKenna | 17 October 2021 (2021-10-17) | N/A |
| 7 | 7 | "Episode 7" | Tessa Hoffe | Peter McKenna | 24 October 2021 (2021-10-24) | N/A |
| 8 | 8 | "Episode 8" | Tessa Hoffe | Peter McKenna | 31 October 2021 (2021-10-31) | N/A |
| Amanda’s plan to take down Eamon comes into fruition. |||||||

### Series 2 (2023)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Ireland viewers (millions) |
| 9 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Felix Thompson | Peter McKenna | 19 March 2023 (2023-3-19) | N/A |
| 10 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Felix Thompson | Peter McKenna | 26 March 2023 (2023-3-26) | N/A |
| 11 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor | Peter McKenna | 2 April 2023 (2023-4-2) | N/A |
| 12 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor | Peter McKenna | 9 April 2023 (2023-4-9) | N/A |
| 13 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Kate Dolan | Peter McKenna | 16 April 2023 (2023-4-16) | N/A |
| 14 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Kate Dolan | Peter McKenna | 22 April 2023 (2023-4-22) | N/A |
| 15 | 7 | "Episode 7" | Felix Thompson | Peter McKenna | 30 April 2023 (2023-4-30) | N/A |
| 16 | 8 | "Episode 8" | Felix Thompson | Peter McKenna | 7 May 2023 (2023-5-7) | N/A |

## Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 7.0/10, based on 11 critic reviews.
Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club gave the series a B− and wrote: "It's simply an opportunity to watch some gifted actors do what they do, very well, with a story that glides along in entertaining but unoriginal manner."
The series was acquired by the BBC and began showing on BBC One on 18 November 2023. The broadcaster also acquired the second series which was shown on BBC One from 14 February 2024 with the whole series available on BBC iPlayer.